WSOP Nevada Now Leading Regulated US Online Poker Market

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Thursday, June 12th, 2014 | Written by Shane Larson

Up until now Party NJ and its two sites nj.partypoker.com and borgatapoker.com had been the leading poker network in the US. Now, however, that situation has changed after WSOP.com increased its traffic by a massive 50% over the past three weeks. Commenting on the remarkable turnabout, traffic watchdog site PokerScout, said:

“So far this month, cash game traffic on WSOP.com in Nevada is soaring. The seven-day average has eclipsed the 140-player benchmark for the first time since the network went live last September. WSOP in Nevada is now on par with New Jersey’s market leader, [the] Party/Borgata Network.”

As a result, WSOP (Nevada) is currently ranked the 37th busiest online poker site in the world with Party Borgata (NJ) just behind at number 38. In addition, WSOP also operates another site in New Jersey which has also experienced a moderate increase in traffic taking it to number 41 on online poker’s top ranked sites, with an average of 120 cash game players over a seven-day period.

The WSOP effect

The 2014 World Series of Poker in full swing in Vegas is undoubtedly having a dramatic effect on Nevada’s online poker traffic, with WSOP NV’s cross-promotional campaign tying its brand to the biggest spectacle in live tournament poker already paying dividends. Before the 2014 WSOP kicked-off at the end of last month, for instance, WSOP Nevada was reporting around 70 cash game players at any one time, which has now risen to an average of 141, with a high of 373 players at peak times.

In addition, WSOP.com’s New Jersey counterpart has also experienced an unexpected bump in traffic related to the 2014 World Series Of Poker in Nevada, and over the past two weeks has far outperformed its rivals.

PartyPoker NJ traffic down 40% since March

New Jersey’s leading poker room PartyPoker NJ, on the other hand, has seen its traffic numbers plummet by 40% since March. Having a population of 8.865 million compared to the 2.76 people who live in Nevada should naturally have given The Garden State a huge advantage over the competition, but in addition to an inspired marketing campaign by WSOP.com, NJ’s online poker market continues to perform considerably under par and has fallen from a 7-day cash-game average of 617 on January 26th to just 307 players last Sunday. Commenting on the stark figures, Robert DellaFave from onlinepokerreport, said:

“Nevada, despite a population only 32.6 percent of the size of New Jersey’s, is currently boasting 64.2 percent of the cash-game traffic. I expect this ratio to become even more disproportionate as June wears on..Factor in New Jersey’s small population, higher attrition rates, and technological challenges, and I wouldn’t be surprised if 250 became the new standard during off-peak seasons.”

WSOP Nevada offers masterclass in industry’s revitalization

WSOP Nevada’s impressive performance comes at a time when the global market has fallen by a huge 22% over the same time period. There are a number of reasons why WSOP Nevada is succeeding in bucking worldwide trends, not least the WSOP.com Online Championship and online qualifiers running at the Rio, which allows players to parlay their funds into bankrolls worthy of the Main Event.

Also adding to the melee of excitement surrounding WSOP.com is the fact around 80,000 out of state players are expected to take part in WSOP live events over the span of the Series, and that a site sporting the same name as the crown jewel of tournament poker is adorning all kinds of paraphernalia around the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. As PokerScout explains:

“It is probably the network’s slew of cross-promotional events and widespread marketing that ultimately got players talking about the site.”

Interstate compact with Nevada more attractive

Already, Nevada and Delaware have signed a landmark liquidity sharing agreement expected to be enacted within months. Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is also hoping to entice further participation in the project by offering to help other states establish their own online gambling regulatory systems.

“If there are states that don’t have as sophisticated a regulatory structure as we have, that’s something we can offer. If your state doesn’t have the infrastructure, use our capabilities,” explained Sandoval.

As a consequence of WSOP.com’s stellar performance over the past few weeks, the prospect of New Jersey now wanting to join the interstate compact with Nevada has been received an unexpected boost. Up until now Nevada’s online poker revenue’s have been a fraction of New Jerseys’ and in April the Silver State generated just $792k in revenues, compared to $2.6 million for NJ. With online poker revenues currently falling in the USA’s regulated markets, however, New Jersey may now see the benefit of sharing players with a state which is likely to receive a huge boost in poker traffic for two months out of every year.